Chapter 18-Part 9

The man’s voice was filled with tenderness and affection, creating a mesmerizing charm that seemed to captivate one’s soul.

Teng Yuyi felt her heart waver, realizing the danger, and quickly shouted, “Qi Zhi, think of something!”

Qi Zhi practically roared back, “Quick, chant along with this humble Taoist: ‘Heaven and earth, thus able to function but indescribable. The great sage, thus observable but unspeakable!’”

Just as they began to recite, the disturbing noise around them suddenly vanished.

Teng Yuyi regained her composure and continued searching through Qi Zhi’s chest, quickly finding a hard wooden tablet.

“I found it!”

Qi Zhi was overjoyed.

“Quick, put it in my mouth.”

Teng Yuyi did as she was told.

Qi Zhi bit his tongue, chanting a spell in a low hum and gathering all his internal strength to spit the Exorcising Wooden Tablet at the man. Unexpectedly, the Exorcising Wooden Tablet cracked in half inside his mouth.

Teng Yuyi was dumbfounded.

“!”

It seemed the wood had been crushed for too long against Qi Zhi’s chest and had accidentally been pressed too hard.

Qi Zhi spat out the two pieces of broken wood, looking crestfallen.

“It’s all because our master is too stingy. I’ve told him we need to replace it with dense, sturdy rosewood, but he only agreed to use the cheapest willow wood. Now look what’s happened; there’s nothing I can do about it, boohoo…”

Teng Yuyi anxiously patted his head.

“Crying won’t help. What other magic tools do you have on you? I’ll help you take them out.”

Qi Zhi racked his brain for a solution, but at that moment, the man had already reached behind Teng Yuyi.

He seemed to have lost his patience and grabbed Teng Yuyi’s shoulder, smiling as he tried to push her and Qi Zhi into the room.

“Come inside, and I will properly entertain the young lady.”

Teng Yuyi secretly grasped something inside her sleeve. Before the man could exert his strength, she turned around and hurled it at the man’s face.

“Who wants your hospitality!”

What she threw were the remaining ‘Five Beauties Heavenly Immortal Talismans’. Since these talismans could detect evil spirits, she figured they might have some power to ward off evil. However, the man gently blew on them, and the talismans instantly disintegrated into dust.

“It’s useless.”

Qi Zhi clung desperately to the doorframe.

“I tried them just now; his skills are too advanced. These won’t even scratch him. The only option now is to wait—”

Teng Yuyi cut him off, reaching back into her sleeve again.

“Even if these things don’t have much power, at least they can distract him. We’ll take it moment by moment.”

As she fumbled around, she suddenly felt a chill in her chest.

All the talismans had unknowingly been used up.

Qi Zhi shouted, “Lady Teng, don’t be afraid. I am the Golden Boy of the Three Purities. The evil spirit wouldn’t dare come near me easily, so it set up this illusion array. However, I naturally have the power to summon thunder and ward off evil. Even if we get dragged inside, we won’t die right away. You just need to hold on to me until my senior brother arrives.”

The man seemed to have a love for cleanliness.

He slowly brushed off the remaining dust from his body before raising his hand to grab Teng Yuyi’s shoulder again.

“My lady, you are so unromantic. I am sincerely inviting you, yet you keep pushing me away.”

Teng Yuyi sensed that there was no escape. In desperation, she flung the last thing inside her sleeve.

“Since you’re inviting me as a guest, I have a nice gift for you.”

It was a bare, unadorned brush, something the Taoist priests from the Dongming Temple had forced on her. Even if it was useless, it could at least scare off the demon.

Before she could finish speaking, Teng Yuyi had already thrust the brush at the man’s face. The man raised his hand to grab the brush, intending to make another joke, but suddenly it was as if he’d been scalded by fire, and his voice abruptly stopped.

His face, which was originally as fair as jade, started peeling where it had been struck, like varnish flaking off, revealing the bluish-gray veins underneath.

Teng Yuyi was shocked, never expecting the bare brush to have any effect. This strike was no light blow, as it left the man unable to move. His body began to spasm, and his expression twisted into something grotesque.

Teng Yuyi dared not look further. She turned her head and pulled Qi Zhi backward.

Perhaps the demon was too preoccupied, as this time she managed to yank Qi Zhi out.

Qi Zhi did a quick somersault and grabbed Teng Yuyi.

“Run!”

They had only taken a few steps when a cold wind surged behind them, and the man chased after them, moving as swiftly as the wind, almost catching up to Teng Yuyi.

Teng Yuyi felt a bit of despair.

“Isn’t there any other trick besides running?”

Qi Zhi kept his head down and ran as fast as he could.

“I’ve used up all my tricks. Now that the barrier is broken, running is the best option.”

The man chuckled sinisterly behind them, making Teng Yuyi feel even more threatened.

“But we can’t outrun him. I’ve seriously offended him just now. If he catches me, I’ll be done for.”

Qi Zhi shakes his head vigorously.

“Lady Teng, I won’t let him catch you first.”

At this moment, a chill swept over them, and the sinister aura descended like a tidal wave.

Teng Yuyi shouted, “How can you guarantee that?”

Sure enough, the man didn’t grab Qi Zhi. Instead, he directly seized Teng Yuyi’s collar, exhaling cold, mist-like breath that felt icy as it touched her skin.

Teng Yuyi shuddered and turned her head to curse, “You demon, how shameless you are! I’m a woman, and he’s a child. You only target the weak. Don’t you feel any shame? If you have any real ability, why don’t you go find that old Taoist priest downstairs?”

Just as she finished speaking, a voice called out from the stairs, “The old Taoist priest is here. What do you want with me?”

The person leaped up, agile and swift, and with a flick of his whisk, struck at the man.

The man couldn’t dodge in time and had to take the blow head-on. To his surprise, the newcomer was much more skilled than he had expected.

The man cried out in pain and let go of Teng Yuyi, disappearing into the dense mist.

The old Taoist priest reached out and caught Teng Yuyi, then pulled a silver chain from his waist and struck it at the mist in the corridor. Suddenly, a narrow and long passage appeared before them, leading into a dark, cold void, seemingly straight into the underworld.

The old Taoist was about to toss the stunned Teng Yuyi to Qi Zhi when Teng Yuyi suddenly grabbed his collar.

“Shizi, I just saved your junior brother’s life. That should be enough to repay you, right? Please help me remove the Sha Ling Huan. I won’t delay your demon-hunting. I’ll leave right away.”

She had been suspicious from the moment they were downstairs. Upon closer inspection, she became more convinced. After the fight, the old Taoist’s collar had loosened, revealing fair, youthful skin on his neck. He was clearly still a young man. Given his palace-made kudza yarn fabric robe and remarkable Taoist skills, there was only one person he could be: Lin Chengyou.